


Slow Now I Let You

by exquisitely



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: And how slow is too slow?, F/M, Friendship/Love, Sharon and Steve flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-17
Updated: 2014-07-17
Packaged: 2018-02-09 08:02:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1975152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exquisitely/pseuds/exquisitely
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time he sees her since their encounter at S.H.I.E.L.D she's all guns blazing and nothing like the nurse from across the hall.  Takes place after The Winter Soldier.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I must warn you, this is my first fic in quite some time so it's a tad rusty, but after seeing all that flirting between them in the movie, and Natasha namedropping Sharon a bunch of times...I just had to do it. 
> 
> The title of the story is from a song lyric by Interpol called "Pace is the Trick".

Steve Rogers was a man of routine.

Despite learning that the agency he had pledged his allegiance to (and then later took down) had bugged his apartment and despite learning that his neighbour had only been assigned to be friendly to him, he did not want to pack up and move into a new home. 

It was the first place he really felt at ease since waking up in this century, so instead of leaving, he hired contractors to fix the damages that the attack on Fury had created and continued on with his routines.  The only thing that seemed to be missing were his run-ins with his (not-so) friendly neighbour (not named) Kate.

***

The first time he saw her since their encounter at S.H.I.E.L.D she’s all guns blazing and nothing like the nurse from across the hall.

He and Natasha had been holding the fight against HYDRA agents on the ground while the rest of the Avengers took to the sky.  They were outnumbered but it wasn’t anything that a super soldier and ex-assassin turned spy couldn’t handle, that is, until the bombs started going off.

Steve couldn’t help but do a few double takes whenever Agent Thirteen came within his line of sight.  She had similar combat moves as Natasha and her aim was always dead on her target.  It was difficult for him to reconcile the nurse he had offered his laundry machines to in exchange for coffee with the woman before him.

“Not that I’m not happy to see you Thirteen, but this isn’t exactly the backdrop for CIA.  What are you doing here?”  Natasha had inched her way over to where Agent Thirteen had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

“Let’s just say that your organization and my organization have a common interest at the moment.  I need to get into that building and secure an artefact before HYDRA gets its hands on it.”  She was reloading one of her handguns.  “They’ve rigged every entrance and the only way to get in there without lighting the sky on fire is through this section you two have managed to secure.”

Steve couldn’t help but scoff.  “You’re basically here on your own mission.  You’re not here to help us.”

Agent Thirteen lifted an eyebrow and instead of trying to refute the accusation she merely nodded and agreed without hesitation.  “There are snipers from my tactical team around the perimeter they’ll help keep HYDRA at bay.”

And with a mock salute directed at the Captain she turned on her heels and ran off, firing at anything that came her way.

He caught his shield having knocked three men down with it.  “I thought you said she was nice,” he said glancing over at Natasha who looked bemused despite being attacked from all angles.

Later, when HYDRA had pulled back and the dust and debris were beginning to settle, Steve half expected Agent Thirteen to be running back towards them with whatever artefact the CIA needed to secure.  He checked out the perimeter for signs of the snipers she had spoken about only to realize that they were all gone. 

They came and left without as much as a trace.

“Spies don’t stick around and wait for the press to roll in.”  Natasha stood beside him and glanced around as well.

“They also don’t seem to care for anything much else other than their mission.”

He meant for it to be a jab at the agent, but the words were out before he really thought of the weight they carried.  By the look on Natasha’s face he knew it had been a low blow.  The two of them had come so far since that night on the boat when they were sent to rescue the group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents being held captive earlier that year.

“I didn’t mean – “

Natasha just waved her hand as if to dismiss it.  “You know she could have easily gone into the building undetected but chose to help us out first.  I think you should reconsider the meaning of nice.”

She slipped away just as the first news van of many pulled up, ready to get their interview with Captain America.  One of the problems with being such a public figure was the media raucous that surrounded it.  Unlike Tony Stark, who thrived off the attention, Steve Rogers just wanted to do his duty and return home unnoticed. 

He didn’t have time think more on Natasha’s parting words as he mentally prepared himself into becoming the 1940s Captain America tv personality he had perfected before he went on to lead the troops through war. 

As the barrage of questions came in, Steve couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to live and operate in the shadows.

***

Agent Thirteen was a codename that Sharon Carter wore with pride. 

Ever since she had been a child hearing about her great-aunt Peggy’s adventures with S.H.I.E.L.D. she knew she’d make a name for herself and have her own adventures.  Not very many people knew about her relation to the great Peggy Carter and Sharon had kept it that way because she wanted to stand out on her own merit.  She gave her first name only in introductions and when other agents called her _Thirteen_ she never corrected them or offered up her given name. 

The dismantling of S.H.I.E.L.D. was a hard shock to everything she thought she knew and everything she grew up believing.

She didn’t plan on joining the CIA outright.  The truth was that they had initiated contact with her, wanting to recruit her before she joined up any other organization. 

As a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, she had been on their radar and once news broke that the organization she once put everything of herself into no longer existed, the CIA didn’t bide their time in trying to snatch up the best agents available on the market, Agent Thirteen being one of them.

She fit right into the environment being a trained spy after all.  The only difference was that she wasn’t working with superheroes anymore, which made stealth missions all the more dangerous because getting caught certainly meant torture followed by death without hope on the horizon that Fury would be sending in one of his trusted Avengers to save the day.

Sharon shook her head glad to be done with all of that, her run-in with the Black Widow and Captain America excluded.

Her mission had been to retrieve a chemical compound concocted in the 60s that was locked away in a bank vault, not to stop and lend a hand to the Avengers.  When her handler debriefed her, she mentioned that it had been her only option and that revealing herself to the Black Widow and Captain America didn’t compromise her since she worked with both operatives in the past (though her work with Captain America mostly consisted of her greeting him in their shared apartment building).

She was well aware that she had fibbed in her report. 

The truth was that Agent Thirteen could have easily gotten in and out of that situation with the compound intact without so much as a glance from one of the Avengers and that should have been the end of it. 

But when she saw them being circled by HYDRA agents she knew she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if something had happened to them.  So she ordered her team to standby and shoot anything that looked like HYDRA while she went in and completed her mission.

Big mistake.

Sharon opted to walk home from the office needing to blow off steam and berated herself for her actions.  A small part of her wanted to be redeemed in the Captain’s eyes for having deceived him while she was on orders to protect him.  Although brief, he had been so openly hostile towards her at their last encounter in the S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters and it never sat well with her afterward.  Not that he had been any less hostile towards her today, but at least she knew that she wouldn’t be making that same mistake twice in trying to get him to warm up to her.

No, Agent Thirteen knew that out on the field the mission was all that mattered, personal feelings be damned.

By the time she reached her apartment, the sun had set and it was well past dinnertime.  She still lived in the same apartment complex on the same floor as Captain America.  Unlike when she had been on assignment to protect him though, she didn’t go out of her way to make herself known to him anymore.  She had been surprised when he decided to stay there after the attack on Fury. 

When he wasn’t away on a mission, she knew his schedule by heart.  As Kate, she timed her “laundry days” so that it seemed like a coincidence whenever they bumped into each other. 

As Sharon, she avoided him like the plague.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts about the day that she hadn’t stopped to consider the fact that Steve Rogers usually went for his nightly run at that time. 

He was stepping out just as she was unlocking the door to her apartment. 

Sharon glanced over at him noticing that he resembled a deer caught in headlights.  He seemed genuinely surprised to see that she still lived there and normally she would have found that amusing but she was still slightly annoyed at him for assuming the worst of her earlier.  So when she managed to get her door open she swiftly stepped inside and closed the door without so much as a word towards him.

All she cared about was having a hot bath and a couple glasses of wine to erase the day’s events from her mind.


	2. Chapter 2

“This is an outrage!” Sharon slammed the files that had been handed to her back onto the Director of CIA Special Ops’ desk.  “A liaison?  With all due respect sir, when I joined the CIA I imagined that my line of work would not involve being a patsy for the Avengers and CIA to pass information back and forth!”

She was called into his office expecting to be further reprimanded for her behaviour the other day.  She was not expecting an entirely different job change.

The director gazed at her calmly.  “Be reasonable Sharon.  This is more than being a ‘patsy’ as you so lightly put it.  After further evaluation, it has been decided that the calls you made on the field leading a tactical team and simultaneously working with the Avengers is something that cannot be overlooked.  We recruited you for your experience in dealing with the more... supernatural aspects of this world.” 

He was a man used to getting what he wanted and an angered agent was the least of his worries.  That only infuriated Sharon even more.

“The mission was a test,” she stated.

“It was an indication,” he corrected.  “Few can be considered competent for this job, you should be proud of this new assignment.” 

Sharon was fuming.  “I’ll be proud of whatever the hell I want.  Who was idiotic enough to sign off on this from the Avengers?”  If it was Tony, he’d be paying for it.

“That would be me.”

Sharon felt her entire body stiffen. 

“And idiotic isn’t a term I normally associate myself with.”

Dead men didn’t talk and they sure as hell didn’t assist in making her out to be the liaison between the Avengers and CIA.

She glanced towards the door, and sure enough her former director Nick Fury was standing there in all his one-eyed glory looking very much alive.

“Fury.  I should have known you weren’t dead.”

She plopped down on one of the director’s chairs, defeated to the fact that she could throw as many tantrums as she wanted, but it wouldn’t help get her out of this one.

Fury moved forward into the office, making a point to be visible to her.

“Faking my death Carter, was a tactical move as I’m sure you’ve gathered by now.  S.H.I.E.L.D. had been compromised far beyond recognition and even though it’s gone, HYDRA is still out there.  The Avengers can only do so much but with the exception of Romanoff and Barton, they’re not spies.  Stealth missions, undercover missions...we need spies for that.”

He gave her a pointed look with his one eye causing Sharon to inwardly curse because they both knew if it weren’t for her Aunt Peggy, there’d be no way in hell that she would give in as easily as she was about to. 

Peggy had been instrumental in all that S.H.I.E.L.D. became except that it was doomed from the beginning with HYDRA brewing beneath its surface.  She knew she owed it to her aunt to restore the old legacy she worked so hard to build.  Truthfully, she already accepted the position in her mind the second Fury opened his big un-dead mouth just like he knew she would.  Blowing his cover to her was crucial in order to guarantee her acceptance of the position.

Sharon blew at one of her golden locks that fell over her eye.  “Dammit, Fury.” 

***

Steve was surprised by how well known Agent 13 was among everyone he worked with, and it wasn’t just for her part in protecting him (although that was brought up sometimes, _did you ever suspect her Cap?_ ) but mostly for the work she had done before he had been pulled out of the ice.

Ever since the night she gave him the cold shoulder, he hasn’t been able to escape her name from coming up in passing.  She was rumoured to be taking on a job that would give her clearance for both CIA and Avengers ops.  Steve didn’t really understand why, but apparently that was a big deal.

He did understand that it also meant that they’d be working together and it didn’t bode well with him that there was some bad blood between the two of them.

He thought about showing up on her doorstep with coffee in hand to make amends but later decided that ambushing her at home probably wouldn’t go over very well especially since he had the distinct feeling that she did not like him. 

At all. 

Though he was entirely certain that he was at fault for that since she’d simply been doing her job while he took out some of his misguided Man Out of Time anger on her.

So he decided to wait until he ran into her again and go from there instead. 

His opportunity came in the form of a Stark charity gala.  Being a member of the Avengers he was obliged (forced?) to attend, black tie and all.

He spotted her from across the room chatting with Pepper and Sam and against his own volition found that he was heading towards them without any sort of plan on what to actually say to Agent 13 once he got there.

Luckily for him, Pepper noticed him first which saved him from having to awkwardly come up with something to say.  

Pulling him in for a greeting and kissing him on the cheek she said, “Steve you look rather dashing.  I’m so glad you made it!  Tony had his doubts but I knew you would be here!”  She turned her attention towards the group.  “Do you and Sharon already know each other?”

“We’re neighbours, actually,” Sharon interjected. 

Steve glanced over at Sharon who had been eyeing him ever since he arrived at the group.

“Captain.”

He gave her a small smile, hoping to break some of the tension he could already feel building between them.  “Steve, please.” 

Once again, he was having a hard time believing that she was the same person he used to run into all the time in their apartment building.  She was always dressed in hospital scrubs whenever he saw her and openly friendly towards him.  It was a far cry from the woman standing before him.  She was dressed in a long, elegant white gown and regarding him like an acquaintance she barely knew.

He had to avoid looking at Sam who was trying to keep a straight face having realized that Sharon, his neighbour and the agent Steve pissed off on the field were one and the same person.

Seemingly pulling it together, Sam turned towards Pepper.  “C’mon Pep, let’s get ourselves a drink.”  He patted Steve on the shoulder and told Sharon he’d catch up with her later, dragging Pepper along with him so that it was just Steve and Sharon left.

“This is the first time I’ve seen you at one of these.”  Steve tapped the table in front of them, looking for some kind of distraction.  It was times like these that he wished he had the inclination to stop by the bar and get a drink.  At least it would have been something he could hold.

“It’s not my first Stark gala believe me, but I had to avoid going to all the places an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D would normally visit but a nurse wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I suppose I never really thought about how much your life would’ve had to change just to keep your cover.”  Steve frowned.  “It probably didn’t help that I basically forced you out of any public S.H.I.E.L.D. events.”

“Well that’s one way to look at it.  I’m supposed to stay out of public eye as much as possible anyway.”

“Spy business, I presume.”

Sharon nodded.

“What about all of this?”  He gestured towards the room.  “This isn’t exactly incognito, especially with Tony involved.”

She sipped on her wine, savouring the taste of it before letting Steve in on the secret that he didn’t seem to notice. 

“Believe it or not, Tony does not allow the press inside for these galas.  The only time you’ll come across them is outside, but if you’re good like me, you can sneak right past them and they would never know you were here.”

Steve did a survey of the room and realized that she was right.  There were no cameras and nobody walking around with a press badge.  “You’ll have to show me how to sneak out of here then.”

She didn’t know what prompted the Captain to drop his cold act toward her but she agreed to help him nonetheless.

Feeling a little more confident, Steve decided to pursue the real reason he had sought her out tonight.  “I think we got off to the wrong start ever since the night Fury was attacked in my apartment and the other day when you showed up during our ops against HYDRA.  I owe you an apology – “

Sharon interrupted.  “It would have been a shock to anyone finding out their neighbour wasn’t really your run of the mill nurse and you were looking out for your team the other day doing your job just like I was doing mine.”

Steve tried to say more but she shushed him again, not wanting to dwell on it any further.  For once, she wasn’t on the receiving end of his accusations, which had been the case since she’d blown her cover.

“Let’s not talk about work Steve, pretty soon that’s all we’ll ever be talking about.”

He had been thinking that he hoped work wouldn’t really end up being the only subject they talked about when she asked him for a dance.

“Then we can get out of here, I’ve had about enough of this crap for the night.”

The familiar pang that came with the memory of the date he never had shot through him and as soon as it had come, Steve pushed it away before the sadness of it had a chance to take over him. 

He looked over at Sharon and offered her a smile.  “I’m afraid that I’m not much of a dancer and I don’t think I’m ready for my debut to be in front of all these people.  I’ll need a little practice first.”

To anyone else, Steve’s excuse would have been chalked up to his modesty, but months of studying him from afar had allowed Sharon to notice his sudden change in demeanour.  She wanted to kick herself for being insensitive because she knew he had to be thinking about his last conversation with her great-aunt before he crashed the plane. 

As a child, she always thought the story was so tragically romantic but it was only a story to her.  To Steve it was his reality and the 1940s had only been a number of months back for him.

“Let’s just get out of here Cap.  Follow me.”

She led them out of the building undetected as promised to a car and driver that Tony always left on standby for her whenever she attended his functions.  Seeing the Captain’s curious frown at the situation she offered up enough of an explanation without giving too much away.  “My family has been a long time friend of the Starks.  Tony, although he’s much older than me, is like the annoying brother I’m glad I never had.”

When they reached their respective apartments Steve and Sharon wished each other goodnight and just as Sharon was entering her apartment, Steve called out to her. 

“I owe you one.”

Sharon nodded and closed the door behind her. 


	3. Chapter 3

From the moment Sharon stepped into the Avengers headquarters, she was all business all the time. 

When she detailed the ops that the CIA and Avengers would be working on together, she made sure everything and everyone was accounted for and that no stone was left unturned.  And though Steve tended to worry over her safety when they were out on the field, he quickly learned that she could handle herself.

He had to admit, he was mesmerized by her.  She sometimes reminded him of the drill sergeants that used to run him through the ringer pre-serum, though he never dared share that thought with anyone.

But it was outside of work that he enjoyed being around her the most. 

He had been walking up the stairs in their apartment building, arms full of groceries when she came up behind him.

“Got enough food there?”  She quipped. 

Steve glanced around, noticing that she was just coming back from a run.

“I certainly hope so,” he said.  “I’ll admit the only real downside to the serum is that I always seem to be hungry.”

Sharon quirked an eyebrow.  “You shouldn’t be sharing that information so willingly.  You might have just given away your Achilles heel.”

“You’re probably right,” he said, moving over to the side to give her enough room to pass.  “Don’t let me slow you down.”

She gave him a smile but not without rolling her eyes. “Here let me give you hand so you can unlock your door easier,” she said, grabbing one of the bags he was carrying.   She peeked inside as they continued up the stairs.  “At least you haven’t fallen prey to the world of take out menus.  The hardest choice I seem to have with my dinners these days is whether I want to order pizza or Thai.”

“I still haven’t tried Thai food,” Steve remarked.

“You’re seriously missing out.”

Steve shrugged, ignoring the fact that she was looking at him like he had three sets of heads.  “I guess I don’t really know where to start.”

When they reached their floor, Sharon waited until he had his door unlocked and handed him the bag she was carrying but instead of going inside like she expected, Steve turned back around to face her.

“Why don’t you just come over for dinner tonight?  As you can see, I have enough food and then you can save yourself from having to decide on what you’re ordering tonight.”

Sharon didn’t answer right away like he’d been hoping and when it looked like she was ready to turn his offer down (again) Steve quickly added, “besides, if we’re going to be living right next door to each other and working together, we might as well try to get along.” 

He smirked at the last part, thinking about all the times they managed to clash already.

Sometimes you lose, and sometimes you win.  This time, Steve came out on top when Sharon ultimately agreed and what started out as a friendly let’s-be-neighbours-for-real dinner turned into the occasional shared dinner whenever one of them wasn’t away on a mission.

It wasn’t as though she was on duty to protect him anymore so turning him down to avoid conflict wasn’t much of an excuse anymore.  Besides, what’s dinner among neighbours?

Sharon wasn’t much of a cook but Steve’s obsession with Master Chef had turned into him dabbling in the kitchen with overly complicated recipes that she would end up having to try.  She was never one to hold back, and she certainly made no exceptions over his meals.

If he was forcing her into being his guinea pig then she wasn’t afraid to tell him when something tasted like ass (her words, not his). 

One night Sharon showed up on his doorstep with a bottle of Merlot.

“Does the Captain drink?”  She asked as he stepped aside to let her in.

“Well alcohol doesn’t really have much of an effect on me because of the serum.”

Sharon gave pause before answering.  “I can’t tell if I’m disappointed by that answer because that just means that I will be doing the drinking for both of us and I’m not against drinking...heavily.”

Steve chuckled.  “Tough day?”

“Something like that.”  Sharon returned a wry smile and poured herself a generous amount of wine.

They tried to leave work out of their conversation as much as possible.  Sharon had more clearance than Steve and at times found that she would have to change the topic or outright tell Steve that she wasn’t saying anything more.  He knew that she took her job very seriously so he didn’t try to push too much whenever this happened and she appreciated that from him, for the most part.  In her line of work the crasser you were, the better you fared but Steve was the exact opposite.  Some days she found it refreshing, other days it infuriated her beyond comprehension.

Another night he showed her his list of things that he needed to catch up on.

“This is appalling!” She exclaimed.

Instantly embarrassed, Steve attempted to grab the little pocket notebook back from but she pushed his hand away before disappearing into her living room.

When she returned she handed him a dozen records from bands named ‘The Beatles’, ‘Led Zeppelin’, and ‘The Rolling Stones’. 

“Start with these for now.  You’re missing an entire movement in musical history.  It was revolutionary!  And don’t look at me so stunned, you don’t have to be a 95-year-old man to enjoy the sound of music played on vinyl.  And we really need to get Thai food crossed off that list.”

He tried to keep a smile from forming and stacked the records in a neat little pile.

They ended up on Sharon’s living room floor listening to a mix Sharon made of what she claimed to be the most important songs from the last decade.  Steve was sitting with his back against the base of Sharon’s couch and she was a foot away from him, lying on the floor facing him with her feet propped up on the seat cushions.

“Do you think there will ever be a time when the world won’t need people like us?”

He looked over at Sharon, considering her question. 

On most nights, their conversations were light and mostly of Sharon helping Steve catch up on all the pop culture references that usually went over his head, but Sharon had been having a tough week at the CIA.  Tonight wasn’t one of those nights.

A few moments of silence passed between them while Steve thought.  “I think that as long as we are able to form our own opinion, there will always be a need for people like us to defend that freedom.  If we all became mindless and thought the same thoughts, we wouldn’t be human, or at least we’d only be shells of ourselves.”

She was gazing at him thoughtfully.  “When you fought during the war, did you imagine a different world from what we live in?  Did you ever think it would end and we’d have peace?”

“I suppose I thought I wouldn’t be needed after the war,” he said after a beat.  “I was given the serum to fight an evil that existed at the time, but if it was defeated then my purpose would cease to exist, meaning that I could go and live in a warm, cozy house and raise a family.”

He never really thought much about life after the war but he always assumed that everything would go back to the way it was.  “I couldn’t have ever thought that I would be woken up in a completely different century,” he added.  “I miss my time Sharon, but I’m not ungrateful for the time I have now.  I can tell you that being in this century and finding that people still care about right and wrong is a huge relief.”

Sharon nodded and kept quiet, the lack of her usual banter allowed the melancholy in his words to settle upon them.  It seemed like a million different thoughts were going through her mind and he would have done anything to know all her secrets.  Even when she was open with him on nights like these she still seemed guarded.

Eventually, he reached over and tapped her leg lightly. 

“You’ve been really quiet.  Not that it’s a bad thing because I didn’t think it was possible,” he said ruefully and she swatted his hand away, though he noticed that had smiled.  

“What is it?” he asked more seriously.

She would have these types of conversations with her Aunt Peggy but speaking with Steve about the war and his time reminded her of how far away from home Steve was and how much he really lost being frozen for seventy years.

Sharon sighed and started to get up saying that it was getting late and they both had early mornings.  He couldn’t help but feel disappointed at the sudden end to their night.  He cherished these moments he spent with Sharon and somehow being around her away from their missions made him feel like he could almost forget everything that had happened to him.

Grabbing the albums, he thanked her again and headed over to his own apartment.

He couldn’t deny that he was attracted to her but he always got the distinct feeling that she was holding back around him.


	4. Chapter 4

Steve was over at the D.C. branch of Stark Industries with Natasha when Kristen from Statistics passed by.

He could already tell by the glint in Natasha’s eye that she was about to do something he wouldn’t like.

“Hey Kristen,” Natasha called out. 

Kristen turned around and cautiously walked towards them at Natasha’s insistence.  She kept nervously glancing back and forth between Natasha and Steve.

“You used to be in Statistics for S.H.I.E.L.D., and I assume you now work in the Stats department here, correct?”  Natasha asked.

At Kristen’s nod, Natasha beamed brightly at Steve.  “Steve was just saying how he wanted to check out that new restaurant that opened up down the street.  You wouldn’t mind going with him tonight, right?”

Looking confused, Kristen said she wouldn’t and before Steve had a chance to say anything, Natasha started pulling him away. 

“That’s great, he’ll pick you up at seven!”  She called out to Kristen.

When they were out of earshot from her, Steve rounded on Natasha.  “What was that?”

“I thought it was pretty clear that I set up a date for you,” she replied.

“Well I know that,” Steve huffed, “but I didn’t need you to do that or understand why you would.  What if I had plans tonight?”

Natasha eyed Steve.  “You haven’t made any plans since you returned from your dead-end mission to find Bucky.”

She was only half-right.  Ever since he and Sam returned after their failed attempt at tracking down Bucky, all Steve had been doing was taking on assignments to keep him busy.  The only time he socialized was whenever he and Sharon hung out or Sam popped by.

Natasha sighed.  “Just go out tonight Steve, the time and place is already chosen.  One date will not kill you.”

Steve wanted to disagree.  He could hardly call the few times he went out with a girl during the war a date and he never made it to meet Peggy for obvious reasons.  From his experience, or lack thereof one date was looking pretty lethal.

“I don’t even know where she lives.”

“That’s easy.  I can hack into the HR files and get her address for you.”

Out of excuses, Steve reluctantly agreed to it.

***

Sharon returned home to a stack of laundry.  She had taken Steve up on his offer to use his machines after all, but Steve wasn’t home yet and she desperately needed clean clothes for tomorrow. 

She glanced at her watch noticing that the building’s laundry room was about to close in fifteen minutes, which wasn’t enough time for a full load.  She figured she could make it down in time to start it and pick the lock to get it when it was ready.

As she was descending down the stairs she ran into Steve and a girl she thought looked familiar, though she couldn’t quite place her.

Steve glanced up at her and smiled, taking in her appearance.  “This feels like déjà-vu.”  He gestured towards the basket she was carrying and the scrubs she wore.

“I’m low on clean laundry, as you can tell,” she laughed.  She made to move past him but he placed his hand on her forearm stopping her.

“It’s a good thing we ran into each other then.  Come on over and pop them into my machines.”

Sharon looked over at the girl who did not look pleased at the suggestion. 

When Steve noticed the direction of her gaze, he cleared his throat.  “Pardon my manners, this is Kristen.  She used to work in Statistics at S.H.I.E.L.D. and now she’s over at Stark Industries.  Kristen, this Sharon.”

 “I thought you looked familiar, now I remember,” Sharon stuck her hand out towards Kristen and briefly shook hands.  “I can use the ones downstairs tonight Steve.  I don’t want to intrude.”

“Aren’t they about to close it down for the night?”  He asked.

“Well, yes,” Sharon replied.  “I was going to pick it up in the morning.”

The look that Steve gave her suggested that he knew she was probably going to use her spy training to break into the room after hours.

“It’s not an intrusion,” Steve said lightly.  “I was just going to show Kristen the apartment.  She mentioned over dinner that she was curious about what S.H.I.E.L.D. used to house their employees in.” 

Steve paused seeming to think something over then added, “now that you’re here, she can see both of our units.”

Sharon couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped her even if her life depended on it.  She wasn’t sure if Steve was either completely clueless or very good at trying to end the date he was apparently on.  Either way, he was being very persistent but it saved her from having to break into the laundry room so in the end, she went back up with them.

Steve let them all into his apartment and Sharon got to work in loading her laundry.  By the time she was finished, Steve and Kristen were ready for the tour of her apartment.

“Oh it’s messy, but alright.” 

She let them in though Kristen didn’t seem all that interested in her apartment. 

They stood around the front of Sharon’s apartment for a moment before Steve finally spoke up and told Kristen that he’d walk her outside.  He didn’t take her back to his place but instead waited with her until a cab came and picked her up. 

Sharon stood in the hallway waiting for him.  She still needed to grab her laundry from his place when it was finished but she had to admit that she was eager to ask him what that was all about.

When he made it up the stairs and saw her, he quickly apologized.  “Sorry to drag you in all that.  Natasha set up the date earlier today and I didn’t have it in me to cancel.”

She looked at him appreciatively while following him inside his apartment.  “So you _were_ trying to end it.  I wasn’t sure what your play was there for a second, Captain.”

Steve looked at her sheepishly.  “Well, in truth, I really did only invite her over to check out the apartment but when I actually said it out loud to you and saw the look on your face, I realized what I had gotten myself into.  Hence the impromptu tour of your unit.  Again, I apologize.  I’m not much of a dater.”

Sharon waved her hand dismissively.  “Bygones,” she said.  “I think Kristen is sorrier that she didn’t get to deflower the great Captain America tonight though,” she added dryly.

The tips of Steve’s ears pinked.  “What do you mean?” 

Sharon had to backtrack, not really realizing what she had said.  It only dawned on her then that of course Steve wouldn’t know what many people assumed of him.  She didn’t know how to get out of this one. 

“Oh, you know just that you were frozen for a while and now all you do is work so when do you have the time...”

“Is that what people think?”

Sharon cursed and came out with it.  “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything, but yes.”

“I’m not, I mean since I was taken out I haven’t...but before –” He stumbled over his words getting more flustered with each one.  “No wonder Nat is so eager to get me out on dates,” he said finally.

“You don’t have to explain yourself, that is unless,” her eyes sparkled, “you want me to spread the word.  I can already see the tabloid headlines ‘Captain America: Not a Virgin?’”

Steve’s growing unease was apparent, luckily for him the chimes on his washing machine went off before Sharon’s teasing really came out in force.  

She hopped off the stool she was sitting on and headed over to get her finished laundry.

“Thanks for letting me crash your date to do my laundry.  It turned into an unexpectedly entertaining evening,” Sharon said.

Steve rolled his eyes.  “I’m glad at least one of us found my discomfort entertaining,” he said smiling.

Smiling back, Sharon wished him a goodnight and went back to her apartment, laundry in hand.


	5. Chapter 5

“How could you have left her out there?”

Steve had Clint Barton shoved against a wall, his forearm pressed against Barton’s throat.

“Steve!”  Natasha had run over once she saw the scuffle and tried to pull him away from Barton but he wasn’t budging.  “Steve, let go!  You’re not helping.”

After a few moments, he finally released Barton, but he was still fuming.  “We’ve lost all radio contact with her and you were the only one on the ground that still had eyes on her. “

Barton rubbed at his throat where Steve had held him in a chokehold.  “She went in with her partner just as the building collapsed.  I had no choice but to get out of there!”

Steve knew Barton was right, but he couldn’t stop the anger from rolling off him like waves. 

From what Barton described, it sounded like typical Sharon.  She was always taking unnecessary risks during her ops in what Steve saw as a complete disregard for her own life.  It didn’t seem like she cared as long as it meant she came out with whatever it was she was set to do. 

Now Agent 13 had been MIA for the last hour and Clint Barton was the last living person that saw her, making him the easiest target for Steve’s wrath as misguided as it was because the person he was really angry at was Sharon. 

He didn’t even know if she was alive for him to tell her to stop being so careless.

The next few hours that passed were some of the most nerve wracking he ever experienced.  Steve paced around for most of the time, ignoring Natasha whenever she came by to check up on him.  He wanted to go back out there and search for her himself but he was being kept in a medical facility.  His high profile would have compromised the situation and potentially blow the covers of several agents which meant that under no certain terms could he be anywhere near that building.   All he could do was wait and pray that Sharon would touch base.

He felt helpless.

Five hours after they’d lost contact with Sharon, an ambulance came rushing through the ER.  Through the commotion, Steve saw that the person on the gurney being rushed through the facility was Sharon’s partner from the CIA.  He looked in critical condition.

Steve cursed.  If they were together when the building collapsed, then Sharon couldn’t have fared any better.  When he didn’t see any sign of her being rushed in afterward he started to think the worst.

Until he noticed someone still sitting in the ambulance wearing an oxygen mask.

He called out to her and sure enough it was Sharon.  He ran over to the ambulance and saw that she was a little battered and bruised but otherwise intact.

Sharon hopped out of the ambulance, wincing as she landed and removed the oxygen mask.  “Tucker... he was standing right beside me when one of the support beams fell on top of him.”

“I saw him being rushed into surgery.”  Steve surveyed Sharon.  “Are you hurt?”

She shook her head and Steve pulled her into an embrace.

“I thought you were dead,” he breathed.

He let her go only when a paramedic came by and told her that she still needed to be examined by a doctor.

Steve waited until she was done being examined.  She was fortunate to have come out of it with only a few bruised ribs, her partner on the other hand would be in surgery for the next several hours.

“You got lucky this time, but Sharon you’re going to get yourself killed if you keep being so reckless.”

Sharon rolled her eyes.  “I’ve been managing just fine.”

“If you consider being in and out of the hospital no less than ten times in the last year fine.”

“You’ve checked up on me?” 

Steve sighed.  “I checked up on everyone for any information I could gather.  I have to know my team if I’m going to lead them into these dangerous situations.”

“You also have to trust your team,” she responded, her eyes flashing.

Growing more frustrated, Steve said, “I trust that you’ll do your job, but sometimes you don’t think about the consequences from the risks you take.  Your partner is in surgery because you had to run into a building that was already falling apart.”

Once the words were out of his mouth, he instantly regretted them.  Sharon looked like he had just slapped her.

“I’m well aware of what happened today,” she said angrily.  “I keep replaying everything in my mind.  You weren’t trapped holding your dying partner for several hours knowing that it should have been you and not him so you don’t need to tell me about the consequences of my actions.  I am well aware.”  

She spun around just as tears began to well up in her eyes.

Steve felt terrible.  He only wanted her to be more careful, but his inability to express his concern was always getting the better of him.  He hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder.   “I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have been so insensitive.”

They stayed like that for the next several minutes.  When Sharon had composed herself, she turned back around to face him.  “I’m going to stay here until Tuck gets out of surgery.”

 “I’d like to stay with you, if that’s alright.”  Understanding her need to be there for her partner and not wanting her to be alone, Steve hoped his words from earlier wouldn’t make her want to push him away. 

Despite it all Sharon agreed, and together, they waited.

***

The only good thing about being put on desk duty was that Sharon got to leave work at a decent hour.  She was beginning to quickly lose her mind from boredom though.  Her injuries couldn’t heal fast enough.

When she got home, everything was as she left it in the morning except for one thing.

“You can come out from wherever it is you’re hiding.  He isn’t home right now to overhear us,” Sharon called out to her empty apartment.

Seconds later, Natasha Romanoff stepped out from the shadows.  “I already knew that, but the fact that you know that is pretty telling in itself.”

“I spent months keeping tabs on him.  It should hardly come as a surprise,” Sharon said.

“Yes, but you’re not on assignment anymore.”

Sharon smirked.  “Call it habit.”

Natasha regarded her for a moment.  “Or something else,” she said.  “You and Steve have gotten pretty close.”

It wasn’t so much as a question than it was her stating fact.  Sharon answered anyway, “judging by how many curse words he’s taken to recently, I can’t readily deny that.”

Natasha frowned.  “I hadn’t realized the extent of his feelings towards you until I saw him when he thought you were dead.  I don’t even think he realized it himself.”

Sharon glanced over at Natasha who had moved to stand over by the window in her living room. 

Although Steve didn’t know it, before Sharon had blown her cover as Kate, Natasha used to drop by to check in on Steve through her.  Back then, there was always a purpose to Natasha’s visits and Sharon wanted to know what it was this time.

“Does he know about you?”

Sharon shook her head.  “I haven’t told him yet.”

Her answer seemed to have placated some thoughts running through Natasha’s mind because she stopped frowning and seemed more at ease.

“Good.  I thought he might be still harbouring his past and placing it all on you, but he seems like he’s doing a lot better now.  I can see why you would keep your family history from him for as long as you have but seeing how he reacted last week, it’s getting to the point where revealing it sooner is better than later.” 

Sharon knew the subject of her blood relation to his first love would have to come up eventually.  She just wasn’t looking forward to bringing it up, unsure of how he would react to her even more so now that Natasha all but confirmed everything she had been beginning to suspect. 

Steve had feelings for her. 

And though she tried to resist it, if she was being honest with herself, she had been developing feelings for him too.

“It took him some time to get over my assignment to protect him and we were practically strangers back then,” Sharon mused.  “This is even worse.  I should have told him from the beginning.”

Gazing out the window, Natasha responded softly, “sometimes the truth isn’t always the best place to start.”

Before Natasha slipped away, Sharon grabbed a bottle of vodka from a cabinet and two shot glasses, pouring one out for each of them.  “I’m about to potentially lose someone that means a lot to me.  The least you can do is have a drink with me.”

“What are we drinking to?”

Sharon considered it and knew that only a fellow spy could truly appreciate the sentiment.  “The secrets we keep.”


	6. Chapter 6

She was avoiding him.

He couldn’t necessarily prove it because it wasn’t as though she didn’t answer his text messages or completely ignore him the few times they ran into each other but for all intents and purposes, Steve couldn’t shake the feeling that she was avoiding him as much as she possibly could in their impossibly small world.

He wracked his brain several times on what he could have done that turned her off but always came up short on an excuse.  They had made their peace as they waited for her partner to get out of surgery and even though he would never stop worrying about her safety, she knew his intentions were good.

Pacing around the medical facility and thinking that she was dead had been enough of an eye opener for him to realize how much she meant to him.  In his former life, he had been too slow to act and it cost him a future that he would never know.  Most people didn’t get a second chance at living their life out, but Steve lucked out and he wasn’t about to take that for granted. 

Not again, not with Sharon.

So on the third night that Sharon sent him a text saying that she’d be working late and had to cancel their dinner plans _again_ , Steve set up camp on the shared landing between their apartments, complete with a book and chair to make sure that he caught her on her way in. 

That was how she found him when she finally arrived home.  She looked at him questioningly and asked if he had gotten her message.

Steve got up, bookmarked the page he was on and pulled Sharon towards him so that they were standing in the middle of the landing. 

“I did, but I also realized that I still owe you a dance from Tony’s gala.”

Sharon shook her head in disbelief.  “And you want this dance now?  Here?” 

She didn’t mean to sound as irritated as she did, but it was late and her day had been terrible.  All she wanted to do was crawl under her covers.

“No time like the present, right?”  He said, smiling down at her.

They were barely a foot apart. 

“Plus you’re in one of your foul moods, and what better way to lift your spirits than to watch me stumble over my own two feet?”

He took her bag and helped her out of her coat, placing it on the chair that he had previously occupied. 

Eyes narrowed, she said, “you’re in a very good mood.”  Then almost as an afterthought she added, “it’s kind of annoying.”

“Just show me what this thing called dancing is all about.”  He held up an iPod, placed one of the earphones in his ear and handed her the other. 

She stuck the earphone in her ear, grabbed his left hand with her right, and placed her other hand on his shoulder.  Despite her remarks, Sharon’s dark mood was lifting.  She couldn’t help but be amused at the situation Steve had concocted.

He slid his free hand around her waist as the music to the first song of his playlist began.

“You don’t really have to know any fancy footwork here, we’ll keep this simple.  Just be aware of where my feet are and your own feet and sway along to the music.  And shit Steve, relax!”  She laughed. 

He was painfully aware of just how close they were and he tried to relax his shoulders even though his heart was hammering a mile a minute in his chest.

“Relax into me,” she said softer.  She glanced up at him through her eyelashes, stepping closer to him.

Clearing his throat, he began to move along to the music with her, surprisingly only stepping on her toes once as they swayed to the next couple of songs, the tension easing out of him with each passing moment.  When a slower number came on, Sharon rested her head against his shoulder. 

“This is nice,” she breathed.

Glancing down at her, he had to agree.  He couldn’t remember the last time he felt so alive.

“Sharon?”

She hummed in response and when he didn’t say anything more she tilted her head up to look at him.  

Steve couldn’t stop himself from leaning towards her.

Closing his eyes, he kissed her, softly.

For the briefest of moments she pressed into him, returning the kiss.  Returning what seemed like all of the want and need that he felt he’d been holding for her from the first moment they ran into each other on that very landing.

He held her in close, but all too quickly, she pulled away and took a step back.  When he opened his eyes, he wasn’t expecting to see her look as upset as she did.

Confused and slightly embarrassed, he quickly tried to apologize for his behaviour.  “I shouldn’t have done that –“

Sharon cut him off.  “No it’s just that...well there’s something about me that you need to know.” 

Steve furrowed his brows, unsure of what she could possibly say about her that would make her that troubled over a kiss.

He guessed the first thing that came to mind.  “You’re not really CIA?”

She shook her head.  “No that’s not it –“

“Then you’re really HYDRA sent to befriend me?”  The corners of his mouth twitched.

“Steve, I’m being serious.”

“Okay, okay.”  He held his hands up in mock surrender.  “What is it then?”  He reached out and wrapped one of her golden curls around his fingers.  “It can’t be as bad as you think.”

She could still feel the ghost of his lips on hers and it only made her feel worse about the conversation they were about to have.  The conversation that she could not longer pretend didn’t matter because the reality of the situation was that Natasha had been right when she said that she needed to tell him sooner rather than later.  She couldn’t avoid the fact that ‘sooner’ had just arrived.

Taking in a deep breath, Sharon finally began to explain.  “Haven’t you ever wondered how it is that I’m so close to Tony Stark and why I grew up with him?  Or how it’s possible for me to follow along with your war stories without missing a beat?”

Steve looked at her curiously, methodically going over her words and what he knew of her.  She mentioned before that her family is close with Tony’s family, but the Starks had a lot of connections and he always assumed she knew so much of what he was talking about because the war was common knowledge in the history books. 

Well, except for the things that only he and a few other people knew about. 

“I don’t understand...”

“Peggy Carter is my aunt.  Great-aunt technically, but we’re related nonetheless.  My surname is Carter.”

Steve stiffened at the mention of Peggy’s name and against the sting of old memories associated with it. 

He tried to process this new piece of information as rationally as he could.  She often spoke of an aunt very fondly, and he only assumed now that she meant Peggy but in all the weeks of getting to know Sharon she hadn’t once mentioned that she even knew Peggy. 

“The aunt that has trouble sleeping, that’s Peggy.”

Sharon nodded, confirming his suspicion. 

Still baffled by the revelation, he was almost expecting her to tell him that she was joking, though when he thought about it further, he couldn’t come up with her surname. 

He really only knew her as Sharon or Agent 13.

Steve rubbed at the back of his head.  “It’s a really important piece of information, don’t you think?  Given the nature of things here, I suppose I don’t understand why you felt the need to keep it hidden.” 

“There are only a handful of people that know I’m a Carter, much less know that I’m related to _the_ Peggy Carter.  I worked really hard to make a name for myself without having the weight of her legacy bore down on me long before you were taken out of the ice and long afterward.” 

She tried to explain the best that she could; tried to reason out her initial thought process but the more she explained the more terrible it all made her sound and feel.

“I didn’t intend to befriend you and deceive you, it just happened and the more time that went on, the harder it was to bring it up. “

Despite himself, Steve scoffed.  “It seems that’s all you do.  First as Kate, and again when I finally thought I knew you.  Do you always have a hidden agenda or is that something that’s ingrained in all spies?”

Sharon sighed.  She thought they had at least moved past that, but it seemed she was wrong.  She picked up her bag and coat and started heading towards her apartment. 

“It’s late Steve.  I can’t justify it anymore than I already have and you seem to only think the worst of me either way.  I didn’t want this to change things, but I’ll leave you with some time to think it over. ”

With the click of the door shutting, Steve was left standing alone on the landing unsure of what just transpired.

Morning came when he heard Sharon leaving her apartment and he had half a mind to go out there and confront her again. 

He barely slept. 

There were too many unfinished thoughts roaming in his mind.  Part of him wanted to immediately forgive her, wanted to apologize for his quick judgment of her.  The other part wondered if it would always be hidden truths and half lies with her.  It was the latter part of him that won and in the end he let Sharon slip away into the early cracks of dawn, needing to sort it all out on his own.

But when she said that she would give him time to think it over, he didn’t think that meant she would be gone for nearly three weeks on an undercover mission for the CIA.


	7. Chapter 7

Sharon was in trouble. 

She was used to getting herself out of tricky situations but this time she was in over her head.  She knew the mission would be dangerous, almost _too_ dangerous but she signed on anyway, willing to devote her life to her duty.

Her job, the CIA, these _missions_ , they were the only things she really knew how to deal with and she was good at dealing with them. 

She was good at what she did. 

At least that’s what she believed up until she was made and caught by her captors.  Now, she was about to pay the price no doubt with a bullet straight between her eyes. 

She was tied up to a chair, but her captors were foolish enough to keep her locked in a room with a window and if she could just get her legs free, then there was a chance she could escape.

If she somehow survived, she knew that Steve would never let her live this one down.  Assuming that Steve was still talking to her.

Sharon tried to shake all thoughts of Steve out of her mind.  She took the mission to get away from him and give him room to come to terms with the fact that she once again hadn’t been entirely forthcoming with him about her past, but that should have been the least of her worries given that she couldn’t even be sure that she would make it out alive. 

The time and distance away from him was supposed to be a temporary deal, not a one that rid him of her forever.  She needed to focus on her survival if she was going to make that happen.

Trying to break out of the chair would cause a lot of noise and if she tried it at the wrong moment she was almost certain they would come in shooting.

So she waited.

She waited until it sounded like there was a commotion outside the room.  As soon as she was certain that the guards outside were distracted by whatever ruckus was happening, she made quick work to free herself of her binds.

She stood on her feet but the chair strapped against her back forced her entire upper body to be folded forward.  With as much force as she could, Sharon jumped backwards, putting all her weight into the landing.  The chair shattered beneath her, wooden splints scratching against her. 

She immediately hopped up, and undid the rope binds on her legs.  She managed to get it loose just as one of the guards burst into the room.  Without pause, Sharon ran and jumped out the window, the glass shattering and cutting her all over as the guard shot at her. 

She hadn’t given thought to how far her fall would be but luckily, the drop was only three stories down and she ended up landing on the hood of a car.

Rolling off it, she ran as fast as she could to the nearest alleyway to find refuge.  She couldn’t tell if she was shot, too much adrenaline and pain from the jump and landing was already taking up enough of her attention. 

She hid away in a corner and made herself as small as possible then jammed a button on her watch that would send an emergency frequency directly to Tony Stark. 

When she was promoted to field agent at S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony had gifted her with the watch and told her that he had it built specifically for her.  She told him that she would never need it. 

That had been four years ago. 

Sharon just hoped the damn thing still worked because it was the last thing she remembered before she was overcome in complete darkness.

***

She was in an unfamiliar room when she awoke. 

And it was dark.

Sharon blinked several times until her eyes became adjusted to her surroundings.  She was lying on a bed, IVs attached to her hands.  To the left of her there was a window with curtains open wide revealing a myriad of lit buildings against an inky sky and for a moment, it seemed peaceful until she noticed the man standing in the shadows by the window; he was gazing out of it his back turned to her. 

Panicking, she tried to stay as still as possible not wanting to get the man’s attention.  She could have been recaptured for all she knew, but it had been too late.  All too quickly he spun around to face her and started in her direction. 

Sharon frantically looked around for anything that she could use to strike him with but she didn’t have to go too far in her assessment once he came into view. 

“You’re going to be the death of me.” 

It was all he said but it was enough to fill her with relief.

“Hello to you too,” she croaked. 

Her throat and mouth felt raw, like she hadn’t used her voice for days.  When she tried to sit up, she was immediately overwhelmed with pain.

“Don’t try to move.”  He reached over and pressed the call button for the nurse. 

“You have a few broken ribs, among other injuries.  I’ll let the doctor have the honours of telling you the extent of it all.”

 He left when the nurse arrived to give them privacy and didn’t return until the doctor had a chance to come by and inform her of all her injuries.

It was quite the roster: broken ribs, gunshot wound to the shoulder, a mild concussion and a terrible gash that ran up her leg from when she jumped through and shattered the glass window.

The doctor had been surprised she managed to move as far away from the landing site without puncturing a lung.

“Lucky number 13,” she mused to herself mostly.

“That depends on which side you’re on,” Steve said as he settled in the chair next to her.

Sharon studied him. 

He had grown some stubble and his eyes were red, like he hadn’t slept in a while.

He looked haggard. 

She didn’t think it was possible for Captain America, super soldier, to look so tired and worn.

“How long have I been out?”

“37 hours,” he answered.  “You’re in a facility in Stockholm.  Tony located you after you sent out the radio frequency and sent his nearest contacts to get to you in time.”

“The last thing I remember was setting that off for Tony.  Glad it worked.”

“He’s here but he just stepped out about an hour ago.  I already let him know that you’re awake so he’ll want to see you.”   Steve hesitated, then added, “you coded two times.  You already lost a lot of blood by the time they found you.”

Sharon was shocked.  Her injuries were one thing, but learning that her heart stopped and she nearly died _twice_ was another thing altogether.  “I had to be revived?”

Steve rubbed his hands against his face.  “Don’t you see Sharon?  You’re incredible but you’re not invincible.”

She considered his words.  Growing up, all she wanted was to be like her aunt Peggy.  She desperately wanted to be part of the fight for justice and now here she was, broken and beaten in a medical facility.

“I get it Steve.  It was a hazard that I willingly signed up for when I joined S.H.I.E.L.D. and later when the CIA recruited me,” she said.

Steve shook his head.  “Still so stubborn.”

She reached out to grab one of his hands, “I don’t have a death wish as you seem to think though.  I had every intention of getting out of this alive,” Sharon paused, “I had some unfinished business.”

Steve gazed at her intently, blue eyes meeting blue. 

She thought of the countless times he told her she was being too reckless with her life.  He only had it half-right.  She was always willing to take risks without a second’s hesitation out on the field and she nearly died for it but to what end?  Her personal life was in shambles.  She needed to take a leap of faith and she needed to do it before she lost him completely.

“I should have told you sooner.”

“Yes, you should have,” Steve replied without missing a beat. 

She couldn’t get a read on him. 

He was rigid and stoic and nothing at all like the Steve she was used to seeing in the evenings after she had a tough day at work but she braved her nerves, chalking some of it up to the morphine and kept going before she could stop herself.

“I want to explain, and I just need you to listen for now.”

She waited for Steve’s nod before continuing. 

“When I was assigned to protect you, it was only a job at the time.  You were just another detail that I needed to keep tabs on.  I didn’t anticipate running into you and having all those silly conversations about Star Trek because it was on your list of things to learn or whatever else we would end up chatting about.  I certainly didn’t expect you to ask me out to coffee by bribing me with your laundry machine,” she gave him a pointed look and Steve looked away, slightly embarrassed because it was the truth; he did try to bribe her to go out with him.

His hand was still in hers so she took it as a good sign to continue. 

“Mostly, I didn’t anticipate _you_ , Steve.  Then we became friends and it only turned out to be more difficult to tell you the more I started to care for you.”

Sharon gently tugged at his hand so that he was looking at her again.  “I wanted you to see me as Sharon instead of Peggy’s niece.  My aunt is amazing and my idol but I’ve never wanted to be measured up against her and if I’m being honest, I didn’t want one more person comparing me to her especially when I already knew she was the world in his eyes.” 

“She’s the best girl I ever knew,” Steve admitted.

Sharon’s heart sank.  “All those nights we shared, it was real.  There was never a hidden agenda.” 

“I believe you.  I’m sorry I said that,” he squeezed her hand and offered her a small smile.

Sharon sighed and looked away from him.  She felt exhausted and heavy, the medication she was on was finally starting to take its toll, though no amount of pain from her injuries could compare to the heartache she felt.

He leaned in closer and brushed her hair away from her face with his free hand.  “You should get some rest.  You can barely keep your eyes open.” 

Sharon closed her eyes and nodded in agreement, letting the drugs take over her.  She barely registered hearing him tell her that he would be there when she woke up.


	8. Chapter 8

The New York skyline was a spectacular view at any given moment of the day, but its best view was during the brief moment everyday when the sun rose and the silhouettes of the buildings contrasted against the orange and pink hues that bled into the morning sky.

Steve stared down at the photo of New York displayed on his phone before tucking it away.  He was sitting on a park bench, cooling down from his morning run and waiting for Sam to finish running his laps. 

Unable to stop himself, he pulled out his phone again and brought up the picture once more.  It had been sent to him by Sharon that morning but there weren’t any other messages that came before or after the picture.  It just had a simple caption that read: _Stark has it made._

He had to admit that looking at it made him feel homesick.  More often than not, he still felt like the lost kid from Brooklyn and sometimes wondered what he was still doing in Washington.

He was so deep in thought that he didn’t realize Sam had come up behind him. 

“How’s she doing?”

Steve glanced up at Sam, who had been eyeing the picture on his phone.  He knew all about Sharon’s injuries having been around when Steve got the call from Pepper telling him that Sharon was in bad shape.

Sam had never seen anyone spring into action as quickly as Steve did when he found out where Tony was having Sharon transported.  If Steve could have run there, Sam was sure he would have been out the door so fast that he’d have gotten whiplash from it.  Instead, he was on the first flight out to Stockholm.

Steve stood up and pocketed his phone a second time.  “She seemed alright the last time I spoke to her.  She has some of the best physical therapists working with her.”

Apart from the picture she sent to him that morning, it had been nearly a week since they last had a conversation.  After she was well enough to fly, Tony had insisted that Sharon come back with him to New York to complete her recovery where she would have access to some of the best resources available in the country.  It only made sense for her to go with him and after some persuasion from Tony and then later Steve, Sharon agreed to it.

In the beginning, Steve would call regularly to check up on her and she would tell him about her progress, and Tony’s latest antics.  As the days turned into weeks, their conversations became more stunted and repetitive until Sharon one day told him that he didn’t have to feel obligated to check up on her all the time and that it was alright if he stopped calling as frequently as he did.

Steve didn’t feel that way at all, but he contacted her less and less all the same, not wanting to bother her. 

“Any idea when she’ll be coming back?”  Sam asked.

Steve shrugged unsure of the answer himself.  “She hasn’t really mentioned it.”

“Well, if you’re taking a trip up to your old neck of the woods anytime soon, let me know.  I wouldn’t mind going up there myself.  I’m sure Sharon is dying to see me too,” he quipped, causing Steve to chuckle.

They kept silent for the remaining time they spent walking out of the park, both of them seemingly lost in their own thoughts.  When it was time for them to part ways, Sam mentioned meeting up again the next day for a run but Steve shook his head.

“I’m driving out to Richmond tomorrow to see an old friend,” he explained.

Sam nodded understandingly.  “Think about what I said about New York though.  When was the last time you and Sharon were even in the same room together?”

“When we left from Stockholm,” he answered.

Sam let out a low whistle, and shook his head.  “I think we’re due for a visit, and by ‘we’ I definitely mean ‘you’.” 

And with that, he left Steve to consider it.

***

The drive to Richmond, Virginia had been an uneventful one. 

Not wanting to sit down yet, Steve stood in Peggy Carter’s room and scanned over the endless amount of picture frames that were stacked row upon row on top of her dresser as he waited for the nurse to finish checking her vitals.

He had looked at these pictures the first time he visited her but hadn’t looked at them again during the many visits that followed.  He didn’t think he was looking for anything in particular until one of them caught his eye. 

Picking it up to get a closer look, Steve couldn’t help but smirk at the photo in front of him. 

Two fair-haired girls stood in front of a house that looked similar to the one he and Peggy were in.  The younger one looked to be about ten or eleven and resembled what he only assumed was her older sister.  The older one of the two was in her teens and unmistakeably Sharon Carter.

“My nieces,” Peggy said from behind him.

He turned around to face her, picture frame still in hand.  She was propped up against her pillows and smiling.

Today was a good day.

Steve set the picture back down where he found it, taking one last look at the younger version of Sharon.  Even back then she bore a mischievous look that made you think she was up to no good.

“How are you feeling today?”  He asked, turning his attention towards her.

Peggy smiled.  “Great.  I could take down an entire army of Hydra assailants.”

“They wouldn’t know what hit them,” he chuckled.

“I’ll go easy on them today and instead, how about you escort me outside for a walk?  I can’t remember the last time I felt the sunshine on my face.” 

Peggy moved to stand up and Steve quickly stood at her side to assist her and like the gentleman he was, Steve held out the crook of his arm for Peggy to tuck her hand into.

Outside in the garden, they found a bench to sit on while they caught up on all that had happened since Steve’s last visit.  They spoke about everything between how the trail he and Sam had been tracking Bucky on went cold to Sharon’s recovery in New York. 

Steve didn’t know when it was but at some point Sharon had told Peggy about her assignment to protect him while she posed as his neighbour.  The unmistakeable look of pride on Peggy’s face whenever Sharon was mentioned was hard to miss.

“She sounds well if not a tad bored,” Peggy said.  “I imagine she’s already strong-armed some poor intern into giving her case files to review while she’s off duty.”

Steve had to laugh, believing that all too well.  He thought it would have been strange discussing Sharon the way that they were but he found it comforting to hear someone else speak of her fondly. 

After a while, Steve decided he had taken up enough of her time and helped Peggy back to her room.  He was about to go on his way when Peggy called out to him.

“Don’t be fooled by her strength,” she said.

At Steve’s questioning look, Peggy elaborated.  “Sharon.  She’s tough and I like to believe that she gets that from me but there’s a remarkable formidableness about her that comes entirely from her and it sometimes makes people around her forget that she breaks just like the rest of us.” 

Frowning, Steve tried to absorb what she had said. 

It forced him to rethink some of the things Sharon had done and said in the past, and the countless number of times she had pushed him away. 

When he glanced back at Peggy he thought she looked almost hopeful.  Thanking her, he gently placed a kiss on her forehead.  “I’ll remember that.”

Thirty minutes into his drive back to Washington, he was calling Sharon. 

He had done it on an impulse, having spent an afternoon talking about her and wanting to see how she was doing for himself.  She answered almost immediately, removing any opportunity for him to back out.

“I didn’t know you had sister,” he said once they’d exchanged their greetings.

“Shannon, she’s younger than me and studying art in California,” Sharon paused, “actually she’s kind of like you.”

“How so?”

“She’s an artist and an idealist,” she stated.  “How did you come across my sister anyway?”

Steve laughed.  “I’m hardly an artist, maybe an idealist.  I saw a picture of the two of you when you were younger.”

“You must have seen it at my aunt Peggy’s then.”

At Steve’s confirmation, Sharon groaned.  “I’ll have to remember to switch that one out the next time I visit her.  That picture is terrible.”

Steve was smiling.  “I think it’s great.  There’s this lovely, sweet girl, Shannon of course, contrasted by her older sister who looks like she’s ready to beat someone up.  The difference is really something.”

“Funny.  You’ve turned into a real comedian in my absence,” she said dryly.

“Speaking of which, Sam has been asking about you.  He wants us to head up to New York so that you’ll stop missing him.”

“How thoughtful of him,” she said and Steve could imagine her rolling her eyes.  “I can’t say it won’t be a welcomed visit because when I’m not doing physical therapy, I’m bored out of my mind which is about 90 percent of my day.”

“When are you coming back to Washington anyway?  He’s started to randomly stop by for dinner lately and don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to have the company but it isn’t as good as having my neighbour around.”

She didn’t answer right away making Steve think that the phone signal could have been dropped.  “Sharon?”

“This isn’t set in stone yet,” she began slowly, “but I might be staying in New York for an indefinite amount of time.”

Steve considered her words carefully.  “You’re not coming back to Washington?”

“I haven’t completely decided.  The thing is that Hill is here working at Stark Industries as well as Fury and they’ve been talking about rebuilding S.H.I.E.L.D.  If that’s happening, then I want to be here for it,” she explained.  “I need to be part of that and I can’t help if I’m in Washington.”

It was Steve’s turn to be silent and Sharon to wonder whether he was still on the other line.

“What about the CIA?”  He finally asked.

“The CIA hasn’t entirely been working out for me,” she admitted.  “I wouldn’t be burning any bridges since I could still be a liaison between them and S.H.I.E.L.D. once it’s up and running again.”

It all made perfect sense to Steve and it sounded like the perfect decision for her.  He told her as much and even encouraged her to follow through with it. 

Still, he couldn’t shake the hollow feeling that had settled in the pit of his stomach right about the time Sharon told him that she wouldn’t be coming back home.

Once he got off the phone with Sharon, he dialed Sam’s number.

“I hope you’ve got vacation days ready.  We’re going to New York.”


	9. Chapter 9

It was happening. 

They were rebuilding S.H.I.E.L.D. from the remnants of what could still be salvaged.  Sharon was admittedly looking forward to being back at the helm of her old stomping ground. 

Her time spent at the CIA never felt quite as right as when she was at S.H.I.E.L.D. so when Maria Hill and Nick Fury ambushed her on her way back from a physiotherapy session, it didn’t take much persuading from them to get her to agree to come back on board.

The only downside was that they were going to base their operations out of the Avengers Tower, which meant that she would have to permanently relocate from Washington to New York, which also meant that she was all but sealing the coffin on what little was left to be saved of her relationship with Steve.

It was for the best anyway. 

At least, that’s what she tried to tell herself.

Even though they were living in completely different states, he had been a great friend to her during the months she was recovering but the distance had been the key component of it all.  She didn’t think she could continue putting on a brave face for him if she had to see him nearly every day and act as though he didn’t just shatter her heart back in Stockholm.

Sharon couldn’t blame him.  It wasn’t as though Steve had those 70-years to get over his feelings for Peggy.  To him, it had been just over a year since they pulled him out of the ice.  It was only more complicated because Sharon had idolized the same woman for as long as she could remember. 

Peggy was the best person Sharon had ever known too.

There wasn’t any chance of going back.  Steve already knew she was staying in New York and seemed really happy for her so the only thing left for her to do was have her belongings in Washington sent over to her new place.

On the bright side, her physiotherapists were pleased with her recovery progress and had just given her the go ahead to start training again.  It was going to be a long and arduous road to get her back into the shape she was in before her last mission but at least it was something she could distract herself with.

Not wanting to wait any longer, she set off for the gym at the Avengers Tower as soon as she was done with her check-up.

She caught Clint’s eye as she entered the room.  It looked like he had just gotten there too. 

“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” he said greeting her.  “I take it you’re just about ready to get back in the ring with us?”

“That’s right,” Sharon said. 

The last time she had seen Clint they were at the medical facility waiting for her partner to come out of surgery.   Sharon never really understood what happened between him and Steve during the time she had been trapped in the building but she remembered Steve seeking Clint out to apologize for acting out on him and although he was angry at first, Clint eventually came around.  He knew that if the situation had been reversed and it had been Natasha in the building, he would have acted much worse than Steve did.  

He asked about her progress and she told him about just being cleared to start training.  “They said I can start off doing some light hand-to-hand combat.  Since you’re here, I wouldn’t mind sparring with someone afterward.”

Clint smiled.  “I’ll take you up on that.  This might be the one and only time you’ll go easy on me.”

“Not a chance Barton,” Sharon said.  “Find me later!”

She had been right in thinking that training was going to be tough.  She could easily run 10k before but now she was having a difficult time just trying to reach a mile.  Not wanting to do any unnecessary damage, Sharon decided to wait for Clint by the mats and focus on sparring instead.  At the very least, she could start getting back into the habit of having to move around people.

She was on her way when she heard her name being called. 

Sharon stopped dead, not really believing her own ears.  Sure enough though, her suspicions were confirmed as soon as she turned around and saw the last person she expected to be standing there just a foot away from her.

“I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Sharon shook her head, taking in his appearance.  “I’m just surprised to see you here.” 

The last time she saw him, he had been unshaven and rough around the edges, but that had been months ago.  Now he looked more like his usual self. 

He looked like Captain America once more.

“I thought I mentioned that Sam and I were coming up for a visit,” Steve said. 

“You mentioned that yesterday.  I didn’t think you’d be here the next day.” 

Steve shrugged.  “Well you look really good.”

“I suppose...”  Sharon was at a loss.  Nothing about this situation was making sense.

Thankfully Clint appeared, his presence becoming a welcome reprieve from some of the tension building between her and Steve.

“Rogers,” he said nodding over at Steve. 

Steve greeted him back before Clint turned his attention towards Sharon.  “Ready to spar?”

She was about to agree but Steve interrupted. 

“Do you mind if I step in for this one?”  He shrugged his shoulders again, looking back and forth between Clint and Sharon.  “If that’s alright.  I wanted to catch up with Sharon and this way we can kill two birds with one stone.”

Clint rocked back on his heels.  “That’s fine by me.  You good with that Thirteen?”

Normally, Sharon would have had no problem with it, but she was still recovering from the shock of his sudden presence.  She didn’t know what to make of it. 

She glanced at Steve who had been eyeing her thoughtfully.  It was almost as though he could sense her hesitation and maybe it was all in her head, but it also seemed like he was challenging her to say no.  Not one to back down, Sharon eventually nodded and Clint started heading back towards the weights telling her that he’d hold her to another sparring session. 

Once he was out of view, Steve held his hands up for Sharon to begin jabbing punches at them.

“I didn’t realize you were already training outside of your physiotherapy sessions,” Steve said.

“It’s my first day back actually,” she said in between punches.  “I could barely run a mile.”

“You’ll get there,” he said simply.

He watched her closely, never taking his eyes off her and at first she tried to focus on putting more power into her punches without causing too much strain on her shoulder.  After a while, when the intensity of his gaze became too much, she took a step back, her frustration getting the better of her. 

“You’re supposed to be sparring with me Steve.”

Apologizing, Steve dropped his hands and changed his stance into a more combative one to mirror hers.

They moved around each other in silence.  Sharon was able to hold her own for a while, getting in some hits while blocking most of his and she was doing pretty well until she threw a punch that Steve ended up dodging. 

Unfortunately, she had put too much of her weight into it, causing her to lose her footing.  Sharon stumbled forward and she would have fallen flat on her face if it weren’t for Steve’s quick reflexes kicking in to catch her.

“Easy,” he said as he helped her up, steadying her with his hands on both sides of her shoulders.

Sharon looked up at him.

They were standing close.

Too close.

“Thank you,” she said after she had regained her balance.

He was gazing down at her, the intensity of his stare unwavering.  “You’re welcome,” he said finally.

Without thinking and without pause, Sharon leaned up and kissed him. 

She was tall, but Steve was taller and the kiss seemed almost chaste because she had to stand on her tiptoes for her lips to touch his.  They stood rooted for what felt like an eternity, both of them seemingly in a state of shock, until he leaned forward and pulled her in to deepen the kiss, his hands sliding down her back.  What little distance was left between them was lost when Sharon reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Their first kiss had been soft, almost timid but this was different, desperate, and no amount of closeness between them seemed close enough.

They were breathing heavily when they finally pulled apart but neither of them moved away.  Steve held her firmly and Sharon sighed, melting into his embrace. 

She had been in a daze but when she felt Steve place a kiss on top of her head, the reality of the situation came back to her like a blow to the gut. 

“I shouldn’t have done that,” Sharon said backing away. 

Steve regarded her coolly.  He had shoved his hands into his pockets but he didn’t move from the spot where she had left him.  “Why not?” 

“Because it was stupid and you’re stuck in 1943.”

To his credit, Steve looked genuinely puzzled, but as much as Sharon wanted this she knew it wasn’t fair to either of them if they went along with it.  It would only end badly.

“I need to go.”  She turned on her heel and headed towards the doors.  She managed to make it outside to the parking lot before he caught up to her.

“You have to stop doing that,” Steve said once he had reached her.

Sharon kept walking.  “Doing what?”

He sped up to keep pace with her, getting more and more exasperated with each step.  “Dropping all these surprises on me, then leaving and shutting me out before I even have a chance to react to it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Steve huffed.  “How is that I’m stuck in 1943?”

“Are you really going to make me spell it out for you?”  Sharon stopped and spun around to face him.  “I didn’t think you could be that cruel.”

“Fine,” Steve said, stopping in front of her.  “You told me before when you had to explain the reason you never told me you’re a Carter that you wanted me to listen at first.  Well I need you to do the same and hear me out.”

His brows were furrowed.  It was like he was still trying to figure out what it was that he needed to tell her and though she felt reluctant, Sharon knew she needed to hear what Steve had to say.  They had been dodging the same bullet for months but it was time they get it over with, once and for all.

“Alright,” she agreed.

“No interruptions, ok?”

Sharon crossed her arms and nodded.  “Ok.”

She braced herself for what was coming. 

He stared at the ground for a moment before speaking.  “You said you didn’t want to be compared to Peggy because of how much she means to me,” he began.

“If I’m being perfectly honest, you were right.  She was the world in my eyes and maybe we would have spent our lives together or maybe not but that was a different lifetime.  All I know is that she lived her life while I was frozen.  Now I’m here, doing the best that I can.”

He was still staring at the ground between them. 

Sharon didn’t know where he intended to go with this explanation but wherever it was, it didn’t sound like something she could make it out of in one piece.  She was always the type of person that preferred to rip the band-aid off quickly so not wanting to draw it out any longer she went back on her agreement with him. 

“I know I said I wouldn’t interrupt but if this is your way of letting me down easy –“

Steve peeked up at her, the corner of his mouth pulled up.  “Just listen,” he said, cutting her off.  

“I kept replaying that conversation we had over and over in my head, wondering what it was that drove you away.  Honestly, I was stumped because as you so nicely described it before, I tried to ask you out, not bribe you, when you were Kate.  I did everything I could to get you to warm up to me when I only knew you as Agent 13.  Then when I thought I had finally won you over, I kissed you, Sharon,” he paused and shook his head, his half smile turning into a full one.  

“I think I’m already jumping through them, but I can only begin to imagine what hoops _Sharon Carter_ is going to make me go through in order to get me to you.”

Sharon eyed him skeptically, which only caused Steve to grin harder.  “What are you saying?”   

“Do I really need to spell it out for you?”  He asked gently, echoing her question from before.

He reached out, taking hold of her hands.  She didn’t resist when he pulled her in closer. 

“From the moment I was taken out of the ice, I only really felt normal during those fleeting moments when we used to stand between our apartments and talk and that was before I even really knew you.”

His words hung around them heavy and for a brief moment, she thought she saw a flash of uncertainty cross his eyes, but with a blink the look had dissipated almost as soon as it had appeared. 

Steve brushed his thumb across Sharon’s cheek, his grin suddenly gone.  She stood still staring back at him, the air around them charged.

“I lose sleep over you and you drive me crazier than I ever thought possible, but if given the choice to go back in time or stay here, I would be a fool to want to go back because you, Sharon, you’re everything.”


	10. Chapter 10

The rustle of sheets woke him before the first peeks of the morning sun had a chance to rouse him out of his slumber.

Steve opened his eyes, settling them on the woman lying next to him.  She was still fast asleep and Steve couldn’t help but notice how peaceful she looked.  He wouldn’t have believed that the last twenty-four hours happened if it weren’t for the physical proof right there next to him.

He was with Sharon.

He didn’t know what he expected to happen when he flew out to New York.  All he knew was that Sharon wasn’t coming back to Washington and too much time had passed between them without them seeing each other.  It had almost felt like she was saying goodbye to him over the phone but the gnawing feeling he kept getting whenever he thought about it was enough to tell him that he couldn’t let that happen.

They had eventually gone back to Sharon’s apartment for the night, Sharon insisting that it wasn’t necessary for him to get a hotel.  He even volunteered to sleep on the couch but the look she gave him told him otherwise.  Secretly he was glad, but he still stayed respectful, kissing her a few times before they both fell asleep.

He rolled on his back and stared up at the ceiling while she slept, content to just be there with her.

Half an hour later, Sharon woke up.  He turned to face her as she blinked sleepily at him.  Her golden hair was a little mussed from sleeping, making him smile.

“Good morning,” he said softly.

“Morning,” she said smiling back.  “What time is it?”

“It’s still really early.  The sun is only starting to come up.”

She inched her way over until she was snuggled up against his chest and Steve was only happy to oblige by wrapping his arms around her.  It wasn’t much longer until they both fell back asleep.

The second time he woke up that morning, Sharon was no longer in the bed next to him.  He found her in the kitchen and was surprised to see her making breakfast for them.  Leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed, he thought he could easily get used to this.

“I thought you didn’t cook,” he said.

Sharon looked up at him, her eyes narrowed.  “I happen to be very good at flipping pancakes and I make a mean scrambled eggs,” she said pointing out to the plate of eggs she had already prepared.  “That makes two out of four things that I can cook, thank you.”

 

Steve chuckled.  “What are the other two?”

“You’ll just have to stick around if you want to find out,” Sharon replied cheekily.

Liking the sound of that, he moved to stand behind Sharon and placed a kiss on her shoulder.  “I plan on it,” he said.

Sharon spun around smiling, “let’s eat before the food gets cold.”  She gave him a quick kiss before stepping away, grabbing plates as she went.

At the table, they spoke about all the plans laid out to rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D.  He could tell how eager she was to get started.

“The hardest part is finding agents that haven’t been compromised.  We have to take extra precautions to make sure we’re not letting in any sleeper agents for Hydra and I’m sure anyone we approach will be suspicious of our intentions. ”

Steve nodded, remembering what Natasha had told him about getting new identities.  “They would have gone into hiding.”

“Exactly.  Trust is a very fickle thing among spies and we don’t have the same resources we once did so it would be like trying to find a bunch of needles in a haystack.  The number of Hydra agents that were revealed the day the Triskelion went down was unbelievable,” Sharon admitted.  “The only quick way to determine Hydra agents from S.H.I.E.L.D. was to see who followed Pierce’s lead and who followed yours.”

“I’m sorry that it had to go down that way,” Steve said.  At the time, he had only been doing what he felt was right but he never imagined the consequences it meant for the lives of all the agents that had dedicated their life to S.H.I.E.L.D.

Sharon placed her hand on top of his.  “It’s good that it did,” she said.  “S.H.I.E.L.D. had been compromised from the onset, but at least with Hydra exposed we can put an end to them once and for all.”

She seemed convinced and the guilt Steve felt started to ebb away.  Feeling grateful, he flipped his palm over and interlaced their fingers.  “You’re amazing,” he said.

“I know.”  Sharon smirked at him.  She jumped up at the sound of her phone beeping but Steve stopped her and gently tugged her back towards him.

“I want to help,” he said. 

Sharon gazed at him curiously.

“If it would make the agents more trusting of your intentions by having me on your side, then I want to help in any way that I can,” he explained.

“Fury will be ecstatic,” she said before leaning down to kiss him.

Steve was laughing in between kisses.  “I was hoping to make you happy too.”

He had pulled her down towards him until she was sitting on his lap, surprising both of them by his bold move.

They kissed, exploring each other’s mouths and at one point Sharon moved to face him, her legs straddling his.  He ran his hands down her back, placing kisses along her neck.  He couldn’t remember a time when everything felt this right. 

“There’s something else I was cleared to do yesterday too,” she said as she rolled her hips against his.

Full of nervous energy, Steve paused and buried his face in the curve between her neck and shoulder.

“But we can take things slow,” Sharon said softly.  She was stroking the back of his head, her fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.

He looked up at her then, his gaze burning with intensity.  Kissing her as he stood, he carried her as he walked them towards the bedroom.  “I think we’ve reached our capacity for going slow,” he said as he laid her down gently.

She kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck and as they let each other in, sharing the only thing they had left to give, Sharon couldn’t have agreed with that sentiment more.

***

Waking up for the third time that morning brought another unexpected surprise that Steve was definitely sure he could get used to.  Sharon was sitting up in bed next to him, tablet in hand and wearing nothing except his shirt.

“I have something for you,” she said, her eyes still on the screen in front of her.  She waited until Steve had sat up beside her before continuing.  “It was the message that came in on my phone earlier before you decided to detour us to the bedroom.”

Steve chuckled as he took the tablet from her.  “You didn’t seem to mind.”

He flipped through the various images and reports on the screen.  The easy grin he had been wearing was suddenly replaced by a frown.

“Is this all recent?”

At Sharon’s nod, he went back to read over some of the reports more closely.  They were all sightings of a man that fit Bucky’s description.

“How did you get all this?  Sam and I haven’t been able to find anything for weeks.  Everywhere we looked led us to a dead end.” 

“That’s because you and Sam are a couple of do-gooders.  I had a lot of time on my hands after I was taken off active duty to recover so I started digging around and called in a few favours with some of my more...shadier contacts,” Sharon explained.   “One of them finally pulled through for me this morning.”

Eyes bright, Steve leaned his head towards Sharon and kissed her slowly.  “Thank you,” he said when he pulled away.

They stayed in bed for a while, Steve going through the various reports trying to determine where to begin while Sharon flipped through the messages on her phone.  After a while, Sharon started to get out of bed.

“I have another physio appointment today and I should probably check in with Hill at some point.” 

When Steve looked up at her, she was standing at the foot of the bed, her eyes sparkling. 

Taking in her expression, he couldn’t help but narrow his eyes at her.  “You look like you’re up to something,” he commented.

Sharon only grinned.  “I’m not,” she said.  “But I was just thinking something.  How’s this for an updated headline?  Captain America Gets Laid.”

He shook his head, thinking back to an earlier conversation they had when she had teased him about being rumoured as the oldest virgin in history.  “Not so fast,” he said as he tackled her back to the bed before she had a chance to get away.

She made what she considered to be a valiant effort to escape from under him but they both knew it was pointless when she finally gave in to his kisses.

“It’s good,” he said after a while, “but I don’t think there’s enough material for that yet.”

Sharon laughed.  “Then we should get on that.”

She ended up being late to her appointment and Maria hadn’t been all too pleased with her when she finally made it out to the tower. 

Steve managed to dodge most of Sam’s questions until Sam had finally settled on simply giving him a knowing look whenever he would grin ridiculously out of nowhere.

None of that mattered though, because even though they didn’t know what the future entailed, one thing was for sure.  Steve and Sharon weren’t about to let each other go.

The End.


End file.
